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“I still can’t believe Gus is married,” Skylar said, smiling at Merritt.
“It is a little shocking,” Genevieve’s sister, Rhonda, agreed. “From the way he acted last summer, I never would’ve thought he would settle down so quickly.”
A jolt of jealousy shot through Merritt at the little smile Rhonda had on her face, like she had a secret.
“So, you know Gus?” Merritt asked.
“We met once when I was out with Genevieve. He was a lot of fun, and definitely the most flirtatious man I have ever known.”
“Well, he’s put the single life behind him,” Merritt told her, suddenly feeling the urge to protect what was hers.
“That’s good.” Rhonda smiled at her and took a sip of her mimosa, turning her attention to the conversation her mom and sister were having about reception decorations.
Even though their relationship was strictly platonic, Merritt didn’t like to think about Gus with other women. And beautiful blonde Rhonda seemed to have been involved with him in some way in the past, which left her feeling annoyingly unsettled.
Back at the house, the guys were outside on snowmobiles, so Merritt took the opportunity to escape to their room for a nap. She was exhausted from no sleep, but she couldn’t shake her unease about Rhonda. At first, she tossed and turned, but eventually sleep overtook her.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when her eyelids eventually slid open. She rolled to the side to see the time on the clock beside the bed. 3:43 p.m. A couple hours of sleep was better than none.
Before she left the room, she brushed her hair, twisting it into a loose bun low on the back of her head, and touched up her makeup. She took a deep breath and walked down the hallway toward the sound of laughter. Some kind of game was going on, and her stomach dropped as she walked in and saw Gus and Rhonda high-five each other then hug.
Gus caught her eye. “Hey, Mer! Come play with us.”
She managed a weak smile, unable to hide the disappointment on her face.
He bounded across the room to her and wrapped her up in his arms. “How was your nap?”
She soaked in the warmth of him. “Fine.”
“Want to play Pictionary with us?”
“I’ve never played before.”
His mouth fell open. “What? How is that possible?”
“We weren’t much for games at my house.”
“That changes now.” He ushered her into the room. “Dad needs a partner. We were unevenly matched, so he sat out.”
“Oh.” Her heart sank at not being partnered with Gus. “Okay.”
“All the clues are wedding themed or wedding movies.” Gus explained the rules of the game and gave her and Ephraim the next turn.
Ephraim took to the board with a clue card in hand. He looked very serious as he drew a large arrow pointing to himself.
“Arrow, direction, right,” Merritt guessed.
He shook his head and drew a woman wearing a veil.
“Veil?”
He drew two stick figures, one on either side of the woman and an arrow pointing to one.
“Parents.”
He traced over the arrow again then drew short hair on the figure. “Man, dad. Father.”
He enthusiastically shook his head as he circled the man and the woman with the veil.